


A Long-Forgotten Fairy Tale

by InPrisonForSparkling



Category: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Video Game), Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Time Travel, being in a dead fandom is. f u n, so i apologize if people are OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28054758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InPrisonForSparkling/pseuds/InPrisonForSparkling
Summary: Everyone knows the story of the Pure-Hearted One. The boy who travelled from his own world to save another.But the fairytale's pages have faded; things that were once integral parts of the story have been forgotten.Enter the King, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the (actually benevolent, surprisingly) ruler of the world. Or, technically, Evermore.Evan tries out a new spell one day. It's one he found in a strangely out-of-place page in an out-of-place book. It's called Timekeeper, and it's far more powerful than anyone anticipated.Evan, with Leander, Tani and Roland in tow, is thrown back in time, back to the time of the Great Sage, Oliver - who also happes to be the Pure-Hearted One.Evan has a kingdom to run. He has to get back to his time, but some... complications appear along the way.
Relationships: Leander Aristides/Roland Crane, Maru | Esther/Tani, Oliver/Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum
Comments: 13
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

Evan was just slightly bored.

He often was. Being the king didn't mean much work most of the time, surprisingly, so many of his days were spent sitting on his throne and playing with his cape.

Of course, the monotony left him alone with his thoughts. Never exactly a good thing, for Evan.

He didn't miss the endless threat, the attacks from all sides, the deaths. Of course he didn't.

But Evan had to admit he missed the adventure.

He missed running around with his friends, casting spells and laughing at jokes the others made. He missed the strings of curses that Tani would explode with when she stepped on a sharp stone, he missed the late nights staying awake with Bracken as she worked on some genius new project. He missed-

He missed _Roland_.

He'd almost come to think of Roland as- as a parent. Not that he replaced Nella or Evan's father, no one could _ever_ replace Nella or Evan's father, but... he was as caring. And Evan desperately wished he would come back.

Losing two parental figures was bad enough, but three... it was just too much.

Evan sighed, staring at the floor.

Something shimmered in the air, and Evan's gaze snapped up to it. Blue magic swirled around, and something- some _one_ \- faded into existence before Evan's eyes.

Roland stood in front of him, blinking confusedly.

Evan ran up and hugged him.

Roland laughed in surprise. "Hey there, Evan."

"Roland, I missed you so much, oh my goodness- where _were_ you?" Evan asked, hugging Roland tighter, as if he might disappear.

"Back in my world, silly," Roland chuckled, ruffling Evan's hair. "I was- _am_ a president, you know."

Evan huffed. "Well, yes, of course, but- surely you could have visited?"

Roland's expression turned serious. "Evan. If I could have figured out any way to come back here, I would've taken it." There was something in his tone which seemed to say _here is far better than there._

Sensing his discomfort, Evan asked quietly, "Roland?"

"Yeah, Your Majesty?"

"What happened back in- in your world?" Evan added quickly, "I only mean, you seemed happy to get away from there-"

Roland cut him off. "No, something happened, alright." He sighed. "You see, I lost the election. I'm not the president anymore, and... my wife and I divorced. We're not on bad terms, exactly, though I don't see her or my kid that often anymore."

Evan didn't know what to say other than "Oh."

Roland chuckled dryly. "Yeah. Anyway, it's nice to be back here. Definitely better than what I've got going for me at home." He glanced down at himself. "I should probably find my other clothes, though."

Evan released him from the hug and pointed down a corridor, towards Roland's old room. He was quiet for a moment, before murmuring, "I missed you, Roland."

Roland smiled. "I missed you too, Evan."


	2. Chapter 2

Evan hadn't expected Roland to come back, if he was honest, but it was an undoubtedly pleasant surprise.

Things in the palace had become far more interesting as of late; Roland's return had meant quite some work cleaning up his rooms and clothes (some of which had fallen into a state of mild disrepair). Roland, however, insisted on helping with it, as well as returning to his position as Evan's Chief Consul.

Evan would never admit it, but he _was_ grateful for the help. Certain areas of diplomacy weren't his strong suit, despite his training when he was young, and the year or so of first-hand experience that he now had.

He wandered into the library, not looking for anything in particular; he just liked the smell of books, the comfortable quiet. It felt like home.

However, there was one book that caught his eye. It was generally unremarkable, apart from the title printed on the spine: The Wizard's Companion.

He pulled it out from the shelf, and a crystal embedded in the front flashed in the light.

Evan opened the book to a random page. It was... a spell?

Labelled "Gateway", the symbol underneath showed in what order to make the strokes. Apparently, it transported the user to a parallel world.

Flipping through more pages, Evan glanced briefly at each spell, most of which were mundane enough. But some of them were unbelievable - Breach Time, for one. What kind of spell could take you back through the ages?

Two things seemed slightly amiss, though. One, there was a spell that seemed out of place, its page far less faded and torn than the others. And two, a note.

The note read:

* * *

_The Pure-Hearted One - a boy from another world, taken to our own, to save us from the Dark Djinn._

_But he was just that. A boy._

_He did not fail in his mission - far from it. In fact, he saved us from a far darker power than Shadar, but he was just a child. Such a responsibility should never have fallen upon him, should never have rested on his shoulders, and yet it did; and he took it in stride, used his power to do extraordinary and wonderful things._

_For that I am grateful. If he had never come to this world, I would have been trapped, alone and angry, a false god, for the rest of my existence._

_Young Sage..._

_Pure-Hearted One..._

_Oliver..._

_Thank you._

_\- Queen Cassiopeia of Nazcaä_

* * *

Evan had heard of the Pure-Hearted One. Of course he had; the story was legendary, but at this point it was barely more than a fairytale.

But this note suggested that the impossible things this boy from another world had accomplished were real, which they just couldn't be, surely - and who exactly was this Queen Cassiopeia?

But the other thing caught his eye once again, the out-of-place spell.

It was labeled "Timekeeper", and the symbol seemed to resemble an hourglass.

The description was this:

* * *

_This spell is an uncommon one; apart from Breach Time, it is the only spell that can transport the caster to another era. Unlike Breach Time, Timekeeper can be used as many times as the caster wishes, provided they have enough magic left to do so. To cast Timekeeper, the caster must imagine the era to which they wish to travel. From then on, the spell will only ever take the caster to that era and their own time._

* * *

Evan stared at the page, dumbfounded. _Another_ spell to travel through time? And, on top of that, one that could be used multiple times?

 _Interesting_ , he thought, closing the book and carefully putting it into his satchel. _I'll have to look more carefully at that later._


	3. Chapter 3

Evan had decided to read up a bit on the Pure-Hearted One.

Fairytales weren't usually his thing, not after Nella died. But if that note in the Wizard's Companion was to be believed, the story of the boy from another world wasn't a fairytale at all.

Though he knew that the other world existed, and that people could cross worlds - Roland had - the story was confusing. A Dark Djinn? Broken hearts? What did it _mean_?

There seemed to be things missing - for example, where the hell did they get that dragon? - and the ending seemed... cut off. Incomplete.

The book that Evan had found mentioned an ash falling, and then the page after just... didn't exist. It looked like the last part of the story had just disappeared.

Evan huffed, closing the book. This was frustrating.

"Leander?" he called out, making his way back to the throne room.

Leander glanced up from a book. "Hmm?"

"Do you know anything about the Pure-Hearted One?"

"Why do you ask?" Leander said it off-handedly, but he was interested now, Evan could tell. He'd even put the book down.

"I found a book about him in the library," Evan responded.

Leander adjusted his glasses, frowning slightly. "I have... heard some stories. But I am by no means an expert."

"Could you tell me what you know?" Evan asked quickly, adding "Please."

"Of course."

 _Oliver hadn't woken for_ _days_.

"The Pure-Hearted One," Leander began, "was a boy from another world. He was a powerful wizard, and he defeated his Soulmate - Shadar."

_Esther was the first to notice._

"But wouldn't that... kill him?" Evan asked. "If he defeated his own Soulmate?"

_She went to the others in a panic. At that point, it had been exactly sixteen hours since Oliver had fallen asleep._

Leander paused for a moment. "Well, I have to admit, I'm not sure how he survived it."

_Marcassin tried to wake him up with spells, none of which worked. Swaine shut himself off. Drippy- well, Drippy cried for the first time in decades._

Evan listened intently to Leander's tale.

_And still, the Pure-Hearted One slept._

_It wasn't as if he could help it._

_Manna is a dangerous spell._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so uh i have something to add- Timekeeper locks onto a time, and then both the caster's own time and the time they chose to travel to keep moving in sync with one another. therefore, they pretty much just act like different places. am i making sense?? idk.  
> also please leave a comment!! it would mean the world to me <3

_Oliver knew he was asleep._

_It was an odd feeling - he'd never consciously realized he was asleep before - but, even without that detail, it was glaringly obvious that this wasn't normal slumber._

_Oliver couldn't breathe, for one._

_At first, he'd panicked. Of course he had, he couldn't breathe, but as he fought to take even one small breath he slowly realized that there was no air to breathe. Not wherever he was._

_Yet somehow, he was alive, so eventually he settled into the nothingness, the dark. Because really, what else could he do?_

_He couldn't wake up - that option had been crossed off the list as soon as he'd heard Esther and the others desperately trying to wake him - so what could he do but give in?_

_Oliver was asleep._

_There was a fire lighting in his veins._

* * *

"Thanks, Leander!" Evan smiled. "I do have one more question, though- have you ever heard of a spell called Timekeeper?"

Leander frowned. "I can't say that I have. What does it do?"

Evan held up the Wizard's Companion, opening it to the out-of-place page. "Apparently, it can take you back to a specific time period. Then- for you- the spell is locked to that time period, and you can only go to then and your own time."

"That..." Leander looked slightly in awe. "That sounds like an incredibly powerful spell. What's this book called?"

"The Wizard's Companion," Evan responded, showing Leander the book's cover.

* * *

_And then, something that might have been Oliver woke up._

* * *

"That _is_ interesting," Leander mused, leaning in to get a closer look at the book.

Evan glanced at Timekeeper's page again. "I kind of want to try it out, if I'm honest."

Leander shrugged. "It seems safeenough. Go ahead if you wish."


End file.
